Dynamic network configuration based on passive location analytics

ABSTRACT

Passive location estimation of mobile devices within a wireless network is provided. The passive location estimation is determined based on one or more measurements that are received from the mobile device and/or from one or more network elements. At least a portion of the passive information can be received in user plane data associated with an application executing on the mobile device. A measurement set for the mobile device can be defined and can be used to build fingerprints of geographical cellular measurements.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject disclosure relates to wireless communications and, alsogenerally, to dynamic network configuration based on passive locationanalytics.

BACKGROUND

Wide adoption of mobile devices along with ubiquitous cellular datacoverage has resulted in an explosive growth of mobile applications thatexpect always-accessible wireless networking. This explosion has placedstrains on resources that are scarce in the mobile world. On the userside, dropped calls and poor communication have been blamed for userdissatisfaction. On the network side, instances of dropped calls andpoor communication can occur due to variations in coverage capacity andperformance, as well as inaccuracies associated with determining thelocation where the coverage capacity and performance has degraded.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various non-limiting embodiments are further described with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example, non-limiting system for performingpassive user equipment device localization, according to an aspect;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example, non-limiting plot of various timingadvance measurements measured between a user equipment device and a basestation;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example wireless environment for using userequipment neighboring cell signal strength measurements to performlocation estimation;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example, non-limiting system configured fordynamic network configuration based on passive location analytics,according to an aspect;

FIG. 5 illustrates various timing charts related to user equipmentdevice cellular measurement fingerprinting with global positioningsystem location reference, according to an aspect;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example, non-limiting representation of userequipment global positioning system measurements, according to anaspect;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example, non-limiting representation of a userequipment device timing advance cross-handover measurement, according toan aspect;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example, non-limiting system configured forlocation estimation and historical data collection, according to anaspect;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example, non-limiting method for dynamic networkconfiguration based on passive location analytics, according to anaspect;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example, non-limiting method for locationestimation, according to an aspect;

FIG. 11 is a schematic example wireless environment that can operate inaccordance with aspects described herein;

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of access equipment and/or softwarerelated to access of a network, in accordance with an embodiment; and

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of a computing system, in accordancewith an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the subject disclosure will now be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which exampleembodiments are shown. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the various embodiments. However, thesubject disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and shouldnot be construed as limited to the example embodiments set forth herein.

Various aspects discussed herein relate to a hybrid approach for passiveuser equipment localization for wireless networks using variousinformation and measurements that are obtained passively from userequipment devices. Passive user equipment localization isdistinguishable from active equipment localization based on theinvolvement of the user equipment device. According to passive equipmentlocalization, as discussed herein, one or more network devices collectmeasurements and associated time stamp information from certain userequipment devices within the network, and perform the localization. Theuser equipment device(s) are just sending measurements, but as discussedherein, there is no user equipment device and/or user intervention.Instead, the network monitors and collects the data. In contrast, activelocation estimation approaches use a trigger from the network side. Forexample, a network device might send a command to the user equipmentdevice and the user equipment device performs the localization,interacts with one or more network devices or network elements, andfeeds back the location estimate to the network device that requestedthe measurement information.

The information received from the user equipment device, according to anaspect, can include timing advance values and global positioning system(GPS) measurements. A timing advance value relates to the length of timeit takes for a signal to travel from a user equipment device to a basestation (e.g., over an uplink). The passive user equipment localizationcan be determined based on information and/or various measurements thatare received from the user equipment device for other reasons (e.g.,call handling, mobility handling, radio resource handing, or variousother wireless network operations). Since this information and/ormeasurements are being reported for other purposes, the informationand/or measurements can be leveraged and used to perform the userequipment localization, with minimal, if any, impact to the userequipment device.

In wireless communications networks, for customers that report serviceissues, it is important to determine the location where the serviceissue was observed. Therefore, the location information should be asaccurate as possible. However, the quality of current passive locationestimate approaches for wireless communications networks is too poor tomeet the requirements for operators (and others) to perform good radionetwork coverage and capacity optimization. Currently, network operatorspassively calculate the user equipment device locations for all userequipment devices in all places within the network. However, suchapproaches do not scale to all user equipment devices at the same time.

The disclosed aspects generally relate to locating network equipment(e.g., user equipment devices) for the purpose of network managementand/or for providing network services. Further, the disclosed aspectsrelate to measuring a spatial relationship of a user equipment devicewith respect to one or more reference points. More specifically, thedisclosed aspects relate to a hybrid approach for passive user equipmentdevice location estimation (e.g., determining a position of the userequipment device) for a wireless communications network using cellularuplink timing advance and GPS measurements.

In an embodiment, a measurement set is defined as a set of measurementsfrom the user equipment device, which can include GPS measurements,including latitude, longitude, altitude, and/or speed. On the cellularnetwork side, timing advance measurements and reference signal receivedpower/reference signal received quality (RSRP/RSRQ) measurements areobtained from the serving cell and the neighboring cell(s). Eachmeasurement set can be associated with the appropriate mobile device anda measurement window (e.g., a defined amount of time). A completereference measurement set includes timing advance measurements,RSRP/RSRQ measurements, and GPS measurements. A partial referencemeasurement set includes at least GPS measurements, if no othermeasurements are available. The available complete and partial referencemeasurement sets can be utilized to build fingerprints of geographicalcellular measurements.

According to an embodiment, to calculate a user equipment devicetimestamp/location that does not fall into any reference measurement setwhen the user equipment device is radio resource control (RCC)connected, a shorted weighted Euclidean distance estimate can be used toestimate the user equipment device location. The weights are on timingadvance measurements and RSRP/RSRQ measurements. The GPS location of areference measurement set that has the shortest weighted Euclideandistance to the non-reference measurement set can be used as theestimate of the user equipment device's location.

In another embodiment, if the user equipment device is performing ahandover and there is no reference measurement set or referencefingerprint that can be used, a timing advance measurement and handoverbased approach can be used to estimate the user equipment devicelocation. For example, when the user equipment device is moving left toright during a handover, the left cell reports the user equipmentdevice's timing advance measurements before the handover and the rightcell reports the user equipment device's timing advance measurementsafter the handover. The distance of the user equipment device to theleft cell (“Dl”) is calculated from the last timing advance left cellmeasurements for the user equipment device. The distance of the userequipment device to the right cell (“Dr”) is calculated from the firsttiming advance right cell measurements for the user equipment device.The distance between the two cells is defined as “D”. A calculatedrelationship between “Dl”, “Dr”, and “D” can result in determining theuser equipment device is located on a line between the antennas of thetwo cells and at what distance from the left cell antenna. In othercases, the relationship indicates that the user equipment device islocated on one of two intersection locations. In this case, theRSRP/RSRQ measurements can be used to determine which intersection ofthe two intersections is the more likely location. If needed, the timingadvance measurements before and after the handover can be used tocalculate an estimated azimuth.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example, non-limiting system 100 for performingpassive user equipment device localization, according to an aspect. Thedisclosed aspects can be configured to collect passive information froma user equipment device for location estimation. Since the informationis collected passively from the user equipment device, there is noimpact to the user equipment device. Further, there can be minimizedimpact to a radio access network (RAN) and core network since thecollected information can be transported through an operations,administration, and management (OAM) network with manageable bandwidth,according to an implementation.

Further, the disclosed aspects can be configured to perform the locationestimation with a relatively high accuracy level. For example, thelocation estimation utilizes GPS report(s) from the user equipmentdevice(s), when the GPS is available. Additionally or alternatively, thelocation estimation utilizes timing advance reports from the userequipment device(s) during handover, when the timing advance reports areavailable.

The disclosed aspects are also adaptive. For example, measurements fromthe user equipment device(s) can be used to build a reference basis(e.g., for historical measurement purposes). When there are conditionsoccurring that change a nearby reference (e.g., an engineering change),the disclosed location estimates can still perform accurately withoutmaking changes. Further, the disclosed aspects are scalable since noglobal convergence is necessary. Additionally, fast response for thelocation estimate can be achieved since there is no global convergencenecessary.

System 100 includes at least one memory 102 (e.g., a memory device) thatcan store computer executable components and instructions. System 100can also include at least one processor 104 (e.g., a processor device),communicatively coupled to the at least one memory 102. Coupling caninclude various communications including, but not limited to, directcommunications, indirect communications, wired communications, and/orwireless communications. The at least one processor 104 can execute orfacilitate execution of the computer executable components stored in theat least one memory 102. The at least one processor 104 can be directlyinvolved in the execution of the computer executable component(s),according to an aspect. Additionally or alternatively, the at least oneprocessor 104 can be indirectly involved in the execution of thecomputer executable component(s). For example, the at least oneprocessor 104 can direct one or more components to perform theoperations.

It is noted that although one or more computer executable components maybe described herein and illustrated as components separate from the atleast one memory 102 (e.g., operatively connected to memory), inaccordance with various embodiments, the one or more computer executablecomponents could be stored in the at least one memory 102. Further,while various components have been illustrated as separate components,it will be appreciated that multiple components can be implemented as asingle component, or a single component can be implemented as multiplecomponents, without departing from example embodiments.

System 100 also includes a receiver component 106 that can be configuredto receive passive information from a user equipment device (e.g.,mobile device). For example, while an active session is executing on theuser equipment device, the active session might transmit variousinformation and/or measurements that can be utilized by system 100 forlocation estimation of the user equipment device. The information and/ormeasurements can be various types of information and/or measurementsthat are necessary for call handling, mobility handling, radio resourcehandling, and various other “normal” or standard communicationoperations. Since this information and/or measurements are reported tothe network to support other functionalities, this information and/ormeasurements can be leveraged for the location estimation, without anyimpact to the user equipment device. Further, the user equipment devicesdo not need to be aware that the information and/or measurements areused for location estimation purposes.

In accordance with one or more implementations, users can opt-out ofproviding personal information, demographic information, locationinformation, proprietary information, sensitive information, or the likein connection with data gathering aspects. Moreover, one or moreimplementations described herein can provide for anonymizing collected,received, or transmitted data.

The information and/or measurements received from the user equipmentdevice can be associated with respect time stamps. For example, when aGPS measurement is received, the corresponding time (e.g., date, time ofday, day of week, and so on) can also be received. The time stampinformation can be embedded, or in another manner associated, with theGPS measurement. In another example, a timing advance measurement can bereceived from the user equipment device and, associated with (e.g.,include embedded data) related to time stamp information.

A location estimation manager component 108 can be configured toestimate the location of the user equipment devices based, at least inpart, on the received information and/or estimates. According to animplementation, based on a first measurement being included in the setof measurements, the location of the user equipment device is estimatedbased on a timing advance measurement 110. According to anotherimplementation, based on a first measurement being included in the setof measurements, a measurement set for the location of the userequipment device can be generated. Further details related to theselocation estimates will be provided below.

In order to improve user experience and network performance, wirelessnetwork operators passively calculate the location of each userequipment device (or as many user equipment devices as possible) in thenetwork, at all places (or as many places as possible). For example, in3GPP standardization, active, on-demand query of certain user equipmentdevice's location is supported and defined, whenever a particular userequipment device is in the wireless network (e.g., LTE, UMTS, CDMA2000,GSM, and so on). The workflow for these on-demand query approachesincludes inputting an identification of the user equipment device intothe network. This triggers a series of operation and message exchangesamong network elements until the location result for the user equipmentdevice is reported back to the requesting entity. However, this approachdoes not scale to all the user equipment devices at the same (orsubstantially the same) time.

For a network operator to perform meaningful radio network coverage andcapacity optimization, a drive test can be conducted to measure thesignal strength and interference at different locations around thenetwork. This can be used for networks that are in the planning stagesand that will be commercially launched and/or for optimization of anexisting cell site. This can be used to ensure the service quality(e.g., accessibility and retainability of key performance indicators(KPIs)). However, there are a few challenges of using a drive test sincecoverage of the drive test is very limited and the results of the drivetest can shift over time.

In accordance with an implementation, using user equipment devicemeasurements can be efficient with respect to both cost and resultaccuracy. Further, with user equipment device service qualitymeasurements correlated with location, the network performance observed(from the perspective of the user equipment device) can be pinpointed tothe location, which can be used to determine the target area of networkoptimization.

For known reported historical service issues, the location where theservice issue was observed is important in order to correct the serviceissue. Therefore, the location information should be as accurate aspossible. However, the quality (e.g., the location estimate accuracy) ofsome passive location estimate approaches might be too poor to meet theneeds of the above mentioned cases. For example, the location estimateaccuracy for these cases might be that the location should be within agrid with 25 meters, for example, which might not have the desiredaccuracy.

A passive estimation approach includes using an enhanced cellidentification (e-cid) only. This approach uses the timing advancemeasurement from the user equipment device. The timing advancemeasurement is derived from a calculation that determines the time ittakes for the user equipment device's radio signal to reach the servingcell. The timing advance measurements can be used to represent thedistance of the user equipment device to the cell antenna. However, thetiming advance measurement can be derived from a reflected signal,wherein a building or other structure is blocking the line-of-sight ofthe signal, although the error might be considered negligible. When theuser equipment device is in a radio resource control (RRC) connectedmode, timing advance measurements can be available from the base station(e.g., eNodeB, eNB, and so on). The timing advance measurement might besampled periodically, such as every second. Using this approach,however, can only constrain the user equipment's location in an arc fora multiple sector cell tower or a ring for an omnidirectional celltower.

For example, FIG. 2 illustrates an example, non-limiting plot 200 ofvarious timing advance measurements measured between a user equipmentdevice 202 and a base station 204. The e-cid of the base station 204uniquely identifies that base station. As illustrated, the coverage areaof the base station 204 can be divided into sectors, such as a firstsector 206, a second sector 208, and a third sector 210, which aredemarcated by the illustrated lines. It should be understood thatalthough only three sectors are illustrated, the coverage area can bedivided into any number of sectors.

Also illustrated are various timing advance measurements that can becaptured while the user equipment device 202 is being moved, which isaway from the base station 204 in this example. The accuracy of a firsttiming advance measurement TA1 is constrained to a first arc 212 (bandor portion of a circle). The accuracy of a second timing advancemeasurement TA2 is constrained to a second arc 214. In a similar manner,the accuracy of a third timing advance measurement TA3 is constrained toa third arc 216 and the accuracy of a fourth timing advance measurementTA4 is constrained to a fourth arc 218. The accuracy level of thisapproach can be in the thousands of meters, depending on the cell towerradio frequency (RF) configuration.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example wireless environment 300 for using userequipment neighboring cell signal strength measurements to performlocation estimation. The use of reference signal received power (RSRP)measurements and triangulation can be utilized for location estimation.The RSRP measurement can represent the measurement of the receivedsignal strength on the downlink. A user equipment device 302 is able toperform signal strength measurements from a serving cell (notillustrated) and neighboring cells 304, 306, 308, 310, 312 (althoughfewer or more than five neighboring cells can be included in acommunications network) in a short time duration and can report back tothe base station (e.g., serving base station). For example, the celltower can broadcast signals on the downlink, which are received by theuser equipment device. The user equipment device can evaluate thereceived signal strength and compare the strength with a known transmitvalue (e.g., the power at which the cell tower transmitted the signal).The RSRP value can provide an indication of the distance between thecell tower and the user equipment device. The RSRP value can be thevalue of the associated serving cell and/or one or more neighboringcells. The network can receive the respective RSRP values from the userequipment device through a control channel.

The network is aware of the locations of the neighboring cells 304, 306,308, 310, 312 and, based on triangulation, can estimate the location ofthe user equipment device 302. If the serving cell signal strength hasdegraded below a threshold value, it can trigger a handover or transferof control of the network communication for the user equipment devicefrom the current serving cell to one of the neighboring cells.

This operation can be periodic or can be triggered by base stationconfigured events (e.g., signal strength is lower than a certainthreshold). With these measurement reports, triangulation and/ormultilateration techniques can be applied to calculate the location ofthe user equipment device. The accuracy of the location estimate is onlyslightly better than using the location of the center point of thesector for the estimate location.

Another approach for location estimation includes using a RSRPfingerprint. This approach includes building a grid map and, further, adrive test is needed to perform the measurements at each grid point. Adrive test includes dividing the space (e.g., geographic area) ofinterest into grids that can be similar in size and shape. A userequipment device is physically placed in each grid and is requested toperform measurements within that grid. For example, ten samples might beobtained and averaged for that particular grid. The average measurementbecomes the representative measurement for that grid. This is performedindependently for all the grids. Thereafter, when a user equipmentdevice provides measurements, those measurements are compared to thegrid measurements and a selection of the grid in which the userequipment device is located is derived from the comparison.

For example, the Euclidian distance between the user equipment device'smeasurements and the prior tests results are calculated. The grid thathas the smallest Euclidian distance with the user equipment device'smeasurement is used as the estimate of that user equipment device'slocation. This approach is not practical due to the extensive drive testthat is necessary. Further, a single change in the network configurationchanges the fingerprint, which means the drive test needs to beperformed again in the neighboring locations.

A further approach includes using both e-cid and RSRP measurements.However, this combined hybrid approach does not produce promisingresults and the accuracy is only in the hundreds of meters. Anotherapproach relates to combining user equipment trace constrains. Since theuser equipment device is not able to move at infinite speed, thisadditional condition can be used to improve the location estimationaccuracy. However, even with this approach, the accuracy is still not asgood as it should be.

The one or more aspects disclosed herein utilize a tied approach basedon the availability of the measurements. FIG. 4 illustrates an example,non-limiting system 400 configured for dynamic network configurationbased on passive location analytics, according to an aspect. System 400includes the at least one memory 102 and the at least one processor 104.Also included are the receiver component 106 and the location estimationmanager component 108, which can be configured to estimate the locationbased on a timing advance measurement 110 and/or can generate a locationmeasurement set 112.

Further to this implementation, a measurement manager component 402 canbe configured to define a measurement set 404. The measurement set 404can be a set of measurements received passively from the user equipmentdevice (e.g., by the receiver component 106). Included in themeasurement set 404 can be a set of measurements from GPS, includinglatitude, longitude, altitude, and/or speed. Additionally oralternatively, the measurement set 404 can include timing advancemeasurements with respect to a serving cell and one or more neighboringcells and/or RSRP/RSRQ measurements with respect to a serving cell andone or more neighboring cells.

Each measurement set 404 can be associated with the measurement userequipment device and a measurement window 406, which can be determinedby a timing manager component 408. The measurement window 406 can bedefined as the amount of time it takes for the user equipment device tomove from a first location Tx to a second location Ts. For purposes ofdiscussion, it can be assumed that the measuring user equipment devicemoves a negligible distance from its location at Tx to its location atTx+Ts. This distance can range smaller than an averaged error of thisapproach. However, Ts should not be chosen to be too small. Instead, Tsshould be chosen such that the measurement window includes as manymeasurements as possible.

FIG. 5 illustrates various timing charts related to user equipmentdevice cellular measurement fingerprinting with global positioningsystem location reference, according to an aspect. Similar timing chartscan be utilized by the timing manager component 408 to define themeasurement window 406. For each chart, time is represented along thehorizontal axis and from left to right (e.g., the time on the leftoccurs before the time on the right). The chart at the bottom of FIG. 5represents the sliding measurement set window Ts 502, wherein themeasurement is taken during the portion of time between the arrow set(e.g., as determined by the timing manager component 408).

The second chart 504 (from the bottom of FIG. 5) illustrates theunpredictable user equipment (UE) application driven GPS measurement andreporting. As illustrated, all of these measurements and reports, or atleast a subset of these measurements and reports, are included withinthe time frame of the sliding measurement set window Ts 502. Accordingto some implementations, there might not be any of these measurementsthat fall within the time frame of the sliding measurement set window Ts502.

The third chart 506 illustrates the neighboring cell signal strengthmeasurements at a serving cell edge. In this example, two measurementsare taken and both these measurements fall within the time frame of thesliding measurement set window Ts 502. However, this is not necessarilythe case and, according to some implementations, one or more of theneighboring cell signal strength measurements might fall outside thetime frame of the sliding measurement set window Ts 502. According tosome implementations, there might not be any of these measurements thatfall within the time frame of the sliding measurement set window Ts 502.

The fourth chart 508 illustrates the continuous MAC layer timing advancemeasurements. As illustrated, these measurements are fairly periodic andone or more of these measurements fall within the time frame of thesliding measurement set window Ts 502. According to someimplementations, however, there might not be any number of thesemeasurements that fall within the time frame of the sliding measurementset window Ts 502.

A complete reference measurement set can be defined as the measurementset that comprises timing advance measurements, RSRP/RSRQ measurements,and GPS measurements. A partial reference measurement set can be definedas the measurement set that contains at least GPS measurements, but notall measurements (e.g., might include either the timing advancemeasurements or the RSRP/RSRQ measurements). A non-reference measurementset can be defined as the measurement set that does not contain a GPSmeasurement.

As discussed the receiver component 106 obtains GPS reports (ifavailable), as well as other information and/or other measurements(based on the availability of such information and/or measurements).FIG. 6 illustrates an example, non-limiting representation of userequipment global positioning system measurements, according to anaspect. Illustrated is a user equipment device 602. A user equipmentdevice may contain some or all of the functionality of a system,subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile, wirelessterminal, device, mobile device, remote station, remote terminal, accessterminal, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device,wireless communication apparatus, user agent, user device, or userequipment (UE). A mobile device can be a cellular telephone, a cordlesstelephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a smart phone, afeature phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a laptop, a handheld communication device, a handheldcomputing device, a netbook, a tablet, a satellite radio, a data card, awireless modem card and/or another processing device for communicatingover a wireless system.

The user equipment device 602 reports its GPS measurements 604 asresponses to many application calls. These applications includenavigation applications, social networking applications, weatherapplications, and other applications that might track the location ofthe user equipment device 602. The GPS measurements can includelatitude, longitude, altitude, speed, and so on.

The user equipment device reports back the location queries from theseapplications in the user plane data. The GPS measurements can bereported to application servers in an application layer protocolpayload. For example, the information can be reported to a base station(e.g., eNB 606). For those probes monitoring Gn interfaces 608 between aserver gateway (e.g., SGW 610) and a p packet gateway (PGW 612), thisinformation can be acquired.

Different applications can locate the GPS reports or the GPSmeasurements in different places in the user plane data (e.g., HTTPheaders). Algorithms choosing the right signature to acquire GPSlocations and filtering out non-trusted or unreliable GPS locationsrequires extensive analysis of these applications and their datastructure. For example, a navigation application can use a number ofdedicated application servers. The application running (or executing) onthe user equipment device reports back its GPS location information inthe HTTP header. Then the probe would collected HTTP packets towardsthose known application servers and cut (e.g., discard) the firstseveral hundreds of bytes so that the GPS location information can beretained. The probe should also record the HTTP packet receive timestamp and the user equipment device international mobile subscriberidentity (IMSI) from the general packet radio service (GPRS) tunnelingprotocol (GTP) packet header. These records can have the followingexample generic format:

Timestamp IMSI Latitude Longitude Altitude Speed

Complete reference measurement sets and partial reference measurementsets can be utilized to build fingerprints of geographical cellularmeasurements.

When calculating a user equipment device timestamp/location pair thatdoes not fall into any reference measurement set when the user equipmentdevice is radio resource control (RRC) connected, the locationestimation manager component 108 can utilize a shortest weightedEuclidean distance estimate to estimate the user equipment devicelocation, for example. The weights can be on timing advance measurementand RSRP/RSRQ measurement. The GPS location of a reference measurementset that has the shortest weighted Euclidean distance to thenon-reference measurement set can be used as the estimate of the userequipment device location.

When there is no reference measurement set or reference fingerprint thatcan be used and the user equipment device is performing a handover, atiming advance and handover based approach can be utilized by thelocation estimation manager component 108 to estimate the user equipmentdevice location. FIG. 7 illustrates an example, non-limitingrepresentation of a user equipment device timing advance cross-handovermeasurement, according to an aspect.

When a user equipment device 702 is moving from left to right andperforming a handover, a left cell 704 reports a timing advancemeasurement of the user equipment device 702 before the handover.Further, a right cell 706 reports another timing advance measurement ofthe user equipment device 702 after the handover.

In this case, “Dl” can be defined as the distance of the user equipmentdevice 702 to the left cell 704 calculated from the last timing advancecell measures for this user equipment device. “Dr” can be defined as thedistance of the user equipment device 702 to the right cell 706calculated from the first timing advance right cell 706 measurements forthis user equipment device 702. “D” can be defined as the distancebetween the left cell 704 and the right cell 706.

If the sum of “Dl” and “Dr” is approximately equal to “D”, which can beexpressed as:Dl+Dr≈Dthen the location estimate of the user equipment device 702 (asdetermined by the location estimation manager component 108) is on theline connecting the left cell 704 antenna and the right cell 706 antennawith “Dl” away from the left cell 704 antenna.

If the sum of “Dl” and “Dr” is less than “D”, which can be expressed as:Dl+Dr<Dthen the location estimation of the user equipment device 702 isdetermined by the location estimation manager component 108 as being onthe line connecting (e.g., a connection point”) the left cell 704antenna and the right cell 706 antenna with D*Dl/(Dl+Dr) away from theleft cell antenna.

If the sum of “Dl” and “Dr” is greater than “D”, which can be expressedas:(Dl+Dr>D)then there exist at least two possible intersections of the circlecentered on the left cell antenna with radius “Dl” and the circlecentered on the right cell antenna with radius “Dr”. These two possibleintersection locations are both candidates of the user equipment devicelocation estimate and are illustrated as the filled in squares of FIG.7.

The RSRP/RSRQ measurements can be used by the location estimationmanager component 108 to determine which intersection of the at leasttwo possible intersections locations is the better choice. If the cellson the same side as the intersection have stronger RSRP measurementsthan the other side, then the intersection is chosen to be the locationestimate of the user equipment device. The timing advance measurementsbefore and after the handover can be used to calculate the estimatedazimuth, if desired.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example, non-limiting system configured forlocation estimation and historical data collection, according to anaspect. System 800 includes the at least one memory 102 and the at leastone processor 104. The receiver component 106 can be configured tocollect various passive information and/or measurements from one or moreuser equipment devices 802 located within a communications network. Forexample, measurements from all, or a subset of, user equipment deviceswithin the network can be collected.

The measurements collected from the one or more user equipment devicescan include measurements that are communicated to the network for otherpurposes. For example, the measurements can be used for mobilityhandling, call handling, radio resource handling, and/or otheroperations. Thus, the measurements can be leveraged for locationestimation purposes as discussed herein.

The receiver component 106 can also be configured to receive variousmeasurements and/or other information from one or more base stations 804within the communications network. According to an aspect, the one ormore base stations 804 can monitor their surrounding radio conditions(e.g., by employing respective measurement components). For example,each of the base stations can determine network traffic load on itsrespective network by performing a network diagnostic procedure. As anexample, during a network listen procedure, each base station can scanits respective radio environment to determine network performancestatistics. Various parameters associated with each base station can bedetected during the network diagnostic procedure, such as, but notlimited to, frequency bands, scrambling codes, common channel pilotpower, bandwidth across respective networks, universal mobiletelecommunications system terrestrial radio access receive signalstrength indicator, and so on.

One or more user devices and/or the network (e.g., one or more basestations) might experience interference in a location due to overlappingcoverage and/or due to other parameters (e.g., uplink interference,downlink interference, and so on). The interference can cause thepossibility that a connection might be lost (e.g., dropped call) or thatother negative impacts to the user experience could occur (e.g.,disruption during the communication, slow response of data, and so on).Therefore, in accordance with the disclosed aspects, the interferenceexperienced by each user equipment device, as well as other metricsrelated to the user equipment devices and/or each network, are monitoredand various adjustments are made to one or more settings in order tomitigate the interference experienced by each mobile device and/or eachnetwork (e.g., each cell, each base station).

User equipment devices can communicate with each other and with otherelements via a network, for instance, a wireless network, or a wirelinenetwork. A “network” can include broadband wide-area networks such ascellular networks, local-area networks, wireless local-area networks(e.g., Wi-Fi), and personal area networks, such as near-fieldcommunication networks including BLUETOOTH®. Communication across anetwork can be packet-based; however, radio and frequency/amplitudemodulation networks can enable communication between communicationdevices using appropriate analog-digital-analog converters and otherelements. Communication is enabled by hardware elements called“transceivers.” User equipment devices can have more than onetransceiver, capable of communicating over different networks. Forexample, a cellular telephone can include a cellular transceiver forcommunicating with a cellular base station, a Wi-Fi transceiver forcommunicating with a Wi-Fi network, and a BLUETOOTH® transceiver forcommunicating with a BLUETOOTH® device. A Wi-Fi network is accessiblevia “access points” such as wireless routers, etc., that communicatewith the Wi-Fi transceiver to send and receive data. The Wi-Fi networkcan further be connected to the internet or other packet-based networks.The “bandwidth” of a network connection or an access point is a measureof the rate of data transfer, and can be expressed as a quantity of datatransferred per unit of time. Additionally, communication (e.g., voicetraffic, data traffic, and so on) between one or more components caninclude, wired communications (e.g., routed through a backhaul broadbandwired network, an optical fiber backbone, twisted-pair line, T1/E1 phoneline, digital subscriber line, coaxial cable, and/or the like), and orradio broadcasts (e.g., cellular channels, Wi-Fi channels, satellitechannels, and/or the like). In accordance with some embodiments, one ormore of the user equipment devices can be capable of simultaneousconnection to the networks. For example, a user equipment device can bea multi-mode device.

A network can include a plurality of elements that host logic forperforming tasks on the network. The logic can be hosted on servers,according to an aspect. In packet-based wide-area networks, servers maybe placed at several logical points on the network. Servers may furtherbe in communication with databases and can enable communication devicesto access the contents of a database. Billing servers and applicationservers are examples of such servers. A server can include severalnetwork elements, including other servers, and can be logically situatedanywhere on a service provider's network, such as the back-end of acellular network. A server hosts or is in communication with a databasehosting an account for a user of a mobile device. A “user account”includes several attributes for a particular user, including a uniqueidentifier of the mobile device(s) owned by the user, relationships withother users, application usage, location, personal settings, businessrules, bank accounts, and other information.

The measurements and/or other information received by the receivercomponent 106 can be retained in one or more data stores 806. Asillustrated the one or more data stores 806 can be located separate fromthe at least one memory. However, according to some aspects, at least aportion of one or more data stores can be located internal to memory.According to some implementations, one or more data stores can belocated external to system 800 (e.g., maintained by a third party) andaccessible by system 800.

The location estimation manager component 108 can be configured toperformed location for all the user equipment devices from whichmeasurements were collected, or for at least a subset of the userequipment devices. The location estimates can be retained in the one ormore data stores 806 as historical data sets 808 and can be utilizedlater for historical localization purposes. For example, if the locationof a particular user equipment device for a particular time and day(e.g., yesterday at 2:00 p.m.) is desired, for active localization, thelocation cannot be determined. This is because active localizationrequires interaction from the user equipment device and it is notpossible to acquire (e.g., trigger) this information for a past event.However, for passive location estimation, as discussed herein, theinformation is being collected by the network in a passive and on-goingmanner and, therefore, can be determined for a past event.

The historical data sets 808 can be maintained in different formats andcan be categorized based on one or more parameters of the respectiveuser equipment device. For example, the location information can becategorized based on a vendor that manufactured the user equipmentdevice, based on a phone model, or based on other parameters of themobile device. According to some aspects, the location information canbe categorized based on time of day, day of week, and other informationrelated to the time stamp associated with the received measurements.

According to some implementations, the various aspects disclosed hereincan utilize an artificial intelligence component (not shown), which canfacilitate automating one or more features in accordance with thedisclosed aspects. As discussed herein, the disclosed aspects can beutilized to perform location estimation for improvements to radionetwork coverage and capacity optimization. The disclosed aspects inconnection with location estimation can employ various artificialintelligence-based schemes for carrying out various aspects thereof. Forexample, a process for receiving passive information from one or moreuser equipment devices, receiving measurements and other data fromvarious network devices, estimating a location of each user equipmentdevice (or a subset of the user equipment devices), and so forth can befacilitated with an example automatic classifier system and process.

An example classifier can be a function that maps an input attributevector, x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, xn), to a confidence that the input belongsto a class, that is, f(x)=confidence(class). Such classification canemploy a probabilistic and/or statistical-based analysis (e.g.,factoring into the analysis utilities and costs) to prognose or infer anaction that can be automatically performed.

A support vector machine is an example of a classifier that can beemployed. The support vector machine can operate by finding ahypersurface in the space of possible inputs, which the hypersurfaceattempts to split the triggering criteria from the non-triggeringevents. Intuitively, this makes the classification correct for testingdata that is near, but not identical to training data. Other directedand undirected model classification approaches include, for example,naïve Bayes, Bayesian networks, decision trees, neural networks, fuzzylogic models, and probabilistic classification models providingdifferent patterns of independence can be employed. Classification asused herein also may be inclusive of statistical regression that isutilized to develop models of priority.

The disclosed aspects can employ classifiers that are explicitly trained(e.g., via a generic training data) as well as implicitly trained (e.g.,via observing usage of the user equipment device, by observing amovement pattern of the user equipment device, and so on). For example,support vector machines can be configured via a learning or trainingphase within a classifier constructor and feature selection module.Thus, the classifier(s) can be used to automatically learn and perform anumber of functions, including but not limited to obtaining variousmeasurements from user equipment devices and/or network devices,defining an interval for measurement collection, analyzing the collectedinformation, creating one or more measurement sets, and estimatinglocations of various user equipment devices, and so on. The criteria caninclude, but is not limited to, a type of network, location of themobile device, a transmit power level of the cell, an orientation of anantenna of a cell, and so on.

In view of the example systems shown and described herein, methods thatmay be implemented in accordance with the one or more of the disclosedaspects, will be better understood with reference to the following flowcharts. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodsare shown and described as a series of blocks, it is to be understoodthat the disclosed aspects are not limited by the number or order ofblocks, as some blocks may occur in different orders and/or atsubstantially the same time with other blocks from what is depicted anddescribed herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks may be requiredto implement the methods described hereinafter. It is noted that thefunctionality associated with the blocks may be implemented by software,hardware, in local, cloud, and/or virtualized environment, a combinationthereof or any other suitable means (e.g. device, system, process,component). Additionally, it is also noted that the methods disclosedhereinafter and throughout this specification are capable of beingstored on an article of manufacture to facilitate transporting andtransferring such methodologies to various devices. Those skilled in theart will understand that a method could alternatively be represented asa series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram.The various methods disclosed herein can be performed by a systemcomprising at least one processor and/or one or more network devicescomprising at least one processor. Further, the methods can beimplemented in one or more devices of a network and/or one or moredevices located outside the network, but in communication with thenetwork.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example, non-limiting method 900 for dynamicnetwork configuration based on passive location analytics, according toan aspect. As usage of mobile communications networks, such as, but notlimited to voice over long term evolution (LTE), increases, locationestimation of devices and the associated service issues that might beexperienced at various locations is in the network increases inimportance. The location estimation can be performed based on a passiveestimate location approach.

At 902, passive information is received from a mobile device during adefined interval (e.g., using the receiver component 106). The definedinterval can be a configurable interval that is selected based on theamount of time it takes for a mobile device to move from a firstlocation to a second location. The interval should be selected such thatmeasurements related to one or more of GPS measurements, RSRPmeasurements, and/or timing advance measurements can be received fromthe mobile device. However, the interval should not be such a largeinterval of time that the evaluation of such measurements becomescumbersome. According to some implementations, the interval should bechosen such that at least a GPS measurement is received from the mobiledevice. The passive information can also be received while an activesession is executing on the mobile device. Further, the passiveinformation comprises a set of measurements that are associated withrespective time stamps.

According to an implementation, receiving the passive informationincludes receiving from the mobile device report data representing ameasurement report that is used to maintain network communication withthe mobile device. According to some implementations, receiving thepassive information includes receiving report data comprising a globalpositioning system report from the active session running on the mobiledevice.

At 904, a location of the mobile device is determined based on thereceived passive information (e.g., using the location estimationmanager component 108). Determining the location can include, based on afirst measurement of the set of measurements, estimating the location ofthe mobile device based on a timing advance measurement, at 906.According to another implementation, determining the location caninclude, based on a second measurement of the set of measurements,generating a measurement set for the location of the mobile device, at908.

According to some implementations, the method 900 can also includestoring the location of the mobile device as a historical data set. Thehistorical data set can be utilized for dynamic network configurationand for other purposes related to improving a user experience andoptimizing system performance.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example, non-limiting method 1000 for locationestimation, according to an aspect. At 1002, passive information isreceived from a mobile device (e.g., using the receiver component 106)and, at 1004, the location of the mobile device is determined (e.g.,using the location estimation manager component 108). Determining thelocation of the mobile device can include estimating the location basedon timing advance measurements, at 1006.

Estimating the location based on the timing advanced measurements caninclude receiving, at 1008, a first measurement from a first device of afirst network, such as a source base station (e.g., using the receivercomponent 106). At 1010, a second measurement is received (e.g., usingthe receiver component 106) from a second device of a second network,such as target base station. For example, a network communication of themobile device can be transferred from the first device of the firstnetwork (e.g., source base station or source network) and to the seconddevice of the second network (e.g., target base station or targetnetwork). For example, the first measurement can be received prior tothe network traffic being transferred and the second measurement can bereceived after the network traffic has been transferred.

At 1012, a first distance and a second distance are determined (e.g.,using the measurement manager component 402). The first distance can bedefined between the first device and the mobile device and is based onthe first measurement. The second distance is defined between the seconddevice and the mobile device and is based on the second measurement.Determining the location can also include determining the location ofthe mobile device based on the first distance, the second distance, anda known distance (e.g., a determined distance or an establisheddistance) between the first device and the second device. For example,base stations are generally fixed in a certain geographic location and,therefore, the distance between the base stations can be known inadvanced. For an ad hoc network, the location between the networks canbe based on GPS or other location measurements and the distance betweennetworks can be determined based on the GPS or other locationmeasurements.

According to an implementation, determining the location includesdetermining that a first value that represents a sum of the firstdistance and the second distance is substantially equal to a secondvalue that represents the known distance. Further, a determination ismade that the location of the mobile device is on a line connecting thefirst device and the second device

According to another implementation, determining the location includesdetermining that a first value that represents a sum of the firstdistance and the second distance is less than a second value thatrepresents the known distance. Further, a determination is made that thelocation of the mobile device is on a line connecting the first deviceand the second device at a third distance away from the first device.

In accordance with a further implementation, determining the locationincludes determining that a first value that represents a sum of thefirst distance and the second distance is greater than a second valuethat represents the known distance. Further, a first intersectionlocation is identified based on a first radius of the first distance anda second intersection location based on a second radius of the seconddistance. A first set of signal strength measurements for the firstdevice and a second set of signal strength measurements for the seconddevice are evaluated and a first subset of the first set of signalstrength measurements and a second subset of the second set of signalstrength measurements are selected. In addition, based on the selectionof the first subset and the second subset, the location of the mobiledevice is selected from a group of locations comprising the firstintersection location and the second intersection location.

By way of further description with respect to one or more non-limitingways to improve coverage capacity and performance through passivelocation estimation, FIG. 11 is a schematic example wireless environment1100 that can operate in accordance with aspects described herein. Inparticular, example wireless environment 1100 illustrates a set ofwireless network macro cells. Three coverage macro cells 1102, 1104, and1106 include the illustrative wireless environment; however, it is notedthat wireless cellular network deployments can encompass any number ofmacro cells. Coverage macro cells 1102, 1104, and 1106 are illustratedas hexagons; however, coverage cells can adopt other geometriesgenerally dictated by a deployment configuration or floor plan,geographic areas to be covered, and so on. Each macro cell 1102, 1104,and 1106 is sectorized in a 2π/3 radians per sector configuration inwhich each macro cell includes three sectors, demarcated with dashedlines in FIG. 11. It is noted that other sectorizations are possible,and aspects or features of the disclosed subject matter can be exploitedregardless of type of sectorization. Macro cells 1102, 1104, and 1106are served respectively through base stations or eNodeBs 1108, 1110, and1112. Any two eNodeBs can be considered an eNodeB site pair. It is notedthat radio component(s) are functionally coupled through links such ascables (e.g., RF and microwave coaxial lines), ports, switches,connectors, and the like, to a set of one or more antennas that transmitand receive wireless signals (not illustrated). It is noted that a radionetwork controller (not shown), which can be a part of mobile networkplatform(s) 1114, and set of base stations (e.g., eNode B 1108, 1110,and 1112) that serve a set of macro cells; electronic circuitry orcomponents associated with the base stations in the set of basestations; a set of respective wireless links (e.g., links 1116, 1118,and 1120) operated in accordance to a radio technology through the basestations, form a macro radio access network. It is further noted that,based on network features, the radio controller can be distributed amongthe set of base stations or associated radio equipment. In an aspect,for universal mobile telecommunication system-based networks, wirelesslinks 1116, 1118, and 1120 embody a Uu interface (universal mobiletelecommunication system Air Interface).

Mobile network platform(s) 1114 facilitates circuit switched-based(e.g., voice and data) and packet-switched (e.g., Internet protocol,frame relay, or asynchronous transfer mode) traffic and signalinggeneration, as well as delivery and reception for networkedtelecommunication, in accordance with various radio technologies fordisparate markets. Telecommunication is based at least in part onstandardized protocols for communication determined by a radiotechnology utilized for communication. In addition, telecommunicationcan exploit various frequency bands, or carriers, which include anyelectromagnetic frequency bands licensed by the service provider network1122 (e.g., personal communication services, advanced wireless services,general wireless communications service, and so forth), and anyunlicensed frequency bands currently available for telecommunication(e.g., the 2.4 GHz industrial, medical and scientific band or one ormore of the 5 GHz set of bands). In addition, mobile network platform(s)1114 can control and manage base stations 1108, 1110, and 1112 and radiocomponent(s) associated thereof, in disparate macro cells 1102, 1104,and 1106 by way of, for example, a wireless network management component(e.g., radio network controller(s), cellular gateway node(s), etc.).Moreover, wireless network platform(s) can integrate disparate networks(e.g., Wi-Fi network(s), femto cell network(s), broadband network(s),service network(s), enterprise network(s), and so on). In cellularwireless technologies (e.g., third generation partnership projectuniversal mobile telecommunication system, global system for mobilecommunication, mobile network platform 1114 can be embodied in theservice provider network 1122.

In addition, wireless backhaul link(s) 1124 can include wired linkcomponents such as T1/E1 phone line; T3/DS3 line, a digital subscriberline either synchronous or asynchronous; an asymmetric digitalsubscriber line; an optical fiber backbone; a coaxial cable, etc.; andwireless link components such as line-of-sight or non-line-of-sightlinks which can include terrestrial air-interfaces or deep space links(e.g., satellite communication links for navigation). In an aspect, foruniversal mobile telecommunication system-based networks, wirelessbackhaul link(s) 1124 embodies IuB interface.

It is noted that while exemplary wireless environment 1100 isillustrated for macro cells and macro base stations, aspects of thedisclosed subject matter can be implemented in micro cells, pico cells,femto cells, or the like, wherein base stations are embodied inhome-based equipment related to access to a network.

To provide further context for various aspects of the disclosed subjectmatter, FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of accessequipment and/or software 1200 related to access of a network (e.g.,base station, wireless access point, femto cell access point, and soforth) that can enable and/or exploit features or aspects of thedisclosed aspects.

Access equipment and/or software 1200 related to access of a network canreceive and transmit signal(s) from and to wireless devices, wirelessports, wireless routers, etc. through segments 1202 ₁-1202 _(B) (B is apositive integer). Segments 1202 ₁-1202 _(B) can be internal and/orexternal to access equipment and/or software 1200 related to access of anetwork, and can be controlled by a monitor component 1204 and anantenna component 1206. Monitor component 1204 and antenna component1206 can couple to communication platform 1208, which can includeelectronic components and associated circuitry that provide forprocessing and manipulation of received signal(s) and other signal(s) tobe transmitted.

In an aspect, communication platform 1208 includes areceiver/transmitter 1210 that can convert analog signals to digitalsignals upon reception of the analog signals, and can convert digitalsignals to analog signals upon transmission. In addition,receiver/transmitter 1210 can divide a single data stream into multiple,parallel data streams, or perform the reciprocal operation. Coupled toreceiver/transmitter 1210 can be a multiplexer/demultiplexer 1212 thatcan facilitate manipulation of signals in time and frequency space.Multiplexer/demultiplexer 1212 can multiplex information (data/trafficand control/signaling) according to various multiplexing schemes such astime division multiplexing, frequency division multiplexing, orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing, code division multiplexing, spacedivision multiplexing. In addition, multiplexer/demultiplexer component1212 can scramble and spread information (e.g., codes, according tosubstantially any code known in the art, such as Hadamard-Walsh codes,Baker codes, Kasami codes, polyphase codes, and so forth).

A modulator/demodulator 1214 is also a part of communication platform1208, and can modulate information according to multiple modulationtechniques, such as frequency modulation, amplitude modulation (e.g.,M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation, with M a positive integer);phase-shift keying; and so forth).

Access equipment and/or software 1200 related to access of a networkalso includes a processor 1216 configured to confer, at least in part,functionality to substantially any electronic component in accessequipment and/or software 1200. In particular, processor 1216 canfacilitate configuration of access equipment and/or software 1200through, for example, monitor component 1204, antenna component 1206,and one or more components therein. Additionally, access equipmentand/or software 1200 can include display interface 1218, which candisplay functions that control functionality of access equipment and/orsoftware 1200, or reveal operation conditions thereof. In addition,display interface 1218 can include a screen to convey information to anend user. In an aspect, display interface 1218 can be a liquid crystaldisplay, a plasma panel, a monolithic thin-film based electrochromicdisplay, and so on. Moreover, display interface 1218 can include acomponent (e.g., speaker) that facilitates communication of auralindicia, which can also be employed in connection with messages thatconvey operational instructions to an end user. Display interface 1218can also facilitate data entry (e.g., through a linked keypad or throughtouch gestures), which can cause access equipment and/or software 1200to receive external commands (e.g., restart operation).

Broadband network interface 1220 facilitates connection of accessequipment and/or software 1200 to a service provider network (not shown)that can include one or more cellular technologies (e.g., thirdgeneration partnership project universal mobile telecommunicationsystem, global system for mobile communication, and so on) throughbackhaul link(s) (not shown), which enable incoming and outgoing dataflow. Broadband network interface 1220 can be internal or external toaccess equipment and/or software 1200, and can utilize display interface1218 for end-user interaction and status information delivery.

Processor 1216 can be functionally connected to communication platform1208 and can facilitate operations on data (e.g., symbols, bits, orchips) for multiplexing/demultiplexing, such as effecting direct andinverse fast Fourier transforms, selection of modulation rates,selection of data packet formats, inter-packet times, and so on.Moreover, processor 1216 can be functionally connected, through data,system, or an address bus 1222, to display interface 1218 and broadbandnetwork interface 1220, to confer, at least in part, functionality toeach of such components.

In access equipment and/or software 1200, memory 1224 can retainlocation and/or coverage area (e.g., macro sector, identifier(s)) accesslist(s) that authorize access to wireless coverage through accessequipment and/or software 1200, sector intelligence that can includeranking of coverage areas in the wireless environment of accessequipment and/or software 1200, radio link quality and strengthassociated therewith, or the like. Memory 1224 also can store datastructures, code instructions and program modules, system or deviceinformation, code sequences for scrambling, spreading and pilottransmission, access point configuration, and so on. Processor 1216 canbe coupled (e.g., through a memory bus), to memory 1224 in order tostore and retrieve information used to operate and/or conferfunctionality to the components, platform, and interface that residewithin access equipment and/or software 1200.

As it employed in the subject specification, the term “processor” canrefer to substantially any computing processing unit or deviceincluding, but not limited to including, single-core processors;single-processors with software multithread execution capability;multi-core processors; multi-core processors with software multithreadexecution capability; multi-core processors with hardware multithreadtechnology; parallel platforms; and parallel platforms with distributedshared memory. Additionally, a processor can refer to an integratedcircuit, an application specific integrated circuit, a digital signalprocessor, a field programmable gate array, a programmable logiccontroller, a complex programmable logic device, a discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions and/or processes describedherein. Processors can exploit nano-scale architectures such as, but notlimited to, molecular and quantum-dot based transistors, switches andgates, in order to optimize space usage or enhance performance of mobiledevices. A processor may also be implemented as a combination ofcomputing processing units.

In the subject specification, terms such as “store,” “data store,” datastorage,” “database,” and substantially any other information storagecomponent relevant to operation and functionality of a component and/orprocess, refer to “memory components,” or entities embodied in a“memory,” or components including the memory. It is noted that thememory components described herein can be either volatile memory ornonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory.

By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory, forexample, can be included in memory 1224, non-volatile memory (seebelow), disk storage (see below), and memory storage (see below).Further, nonvolatile memory can be included in read only memory,programmable read only memory, electrically programmable read onlymemory, electrically erasable programmable read only memory, or flashmemory. Volatile memory can include random access memory, which acts asexternal cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, randomaccess memory is available in many forms such as synchronous randomaccess memory, dynamic random access memory, synchronous dynamic randomaccess memory, double data rate synchronous dynamic random accessmemory, enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory, Synchlinkdynamic random access memory, and direct Rambus random access memory.Additionally, the disclosed memory components of systems or methodsherein are intended to include, without being limited to including,these and any other suitable types of memory.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIG. 13, and the following discussion, are intended toprovide a brief, general description of a suitable environment in whichthe various aspects of the disclosed subject matter can be implemented.While the subject matter has been described above in the general contextof computer-executable instructions of a computer program that runs on acomputer and/or computers, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe various aspects also can be implemented in combination with otherprogram modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks and/orimplement particular abstract data types. For example, in memory (suchas at least one memory 102) there can be software, which can instruct aprocessor (such as at least one processor 104) to perform variousactions. The processor can be configured to execute the instructions inorder to implement the analysis of monitoring an uplink power level,detecting the uplink power level is at or above a threshold level,and/or disable transmission of at least one message as a result of themonitored uplink power level.

Moreover, those skilled in the art will understand that the variousaspects can be practiced with other computer system configurations,including single-processor or multiprocessor computer systems,mini-computing devices, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, base stations hand-held computing devices or user equipment,such as a tablet, phone, watch, and so forth, processor-basedcomputers/systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer orindustrial electronics, and the like. The illustrated aspects can alsobe practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network; however, some if not all aspects of the subjectdisclosure can be practiced on stand-alone computers. In a distributedcomputing environment, program modules can be located in both local andremote memory storage devices.

With reference to FIG. 13, a block diagram of a computing system 1300operable to execute the disclosed systems and methods is illustrated, inaccordance with an embodiment. Computer 1302 includes a processing unit1304, a system memory 1306, and a system bus 1308. System bus 1308couples system components including, but not limited to, system memory1306 to processing unit 1304. Processing unit 1304 can be any of variousavailable processors. Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessorarchitectures also can be employed as processing unit 1304.

System bus 1308 can be any of several types of bus structure(s)including a memory bus or a memory controller, a peripheral bus or anexternal bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available busarchitectures including, but not limited to, industrial standardarchitecture, micro-channel architecture, extended industrial standardarchitecture, intelligent drive electronics, video electronics standardsassociation local bus, peripheral component interconnect, card bus,universal serial bus, advanced graphics port, personal computer memorycard international association bus, Firewire (institute of electricaland electronics engineers 1194), and small computer systems interface.

System memory 1306 includes volatile memory 1310 and nonvolatile memory1312. A basic input/output system, containing routines to transferinformation between elements within computer 1302, such as duringstart-up, can be stored in nonvolatile memory 1312. By way ofillustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory 1312 can includeread only memory, programmable read only memory, electricallyprogrammable read only memory, electrically erasable programmable readonly memory, or flash memory. Volatile memory 1310 can include randomaccess memory, which acts as external cache memory. By way ofillustration and not limitation, random access memory is available inmany forms such as dynamic random access memory, synchronous randomaccess memory, synchronous dynamic random access memory, double datarate synchronous dynamic random access memory, enhanced synchronousdynamic random access memory, Synchlink dynamic random access memory,and direct Rambus random access memory, direct Rambus dynamic randomaccess memory, and Rambus dynamic random access memory.

Computer 1302 also includes removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer storage media. In an implementation,provided is a non-transitory or tangible computer-readable storagedevice storing executable instructions that, in response to execution,cause a system comprising a processor to perform operations. Theoperations can include receiving, during a defined interval, passiveinformation from a mobile device while an active session is executing onthe mobile device. The passive information comprises a set ofmeasurements associated with respective time stamps. The definedinterval comprises a measurement window defined as an amount of time forthe mobile device to move from a first location to a second location.The operations can also include determining, a location of the mobiledevice comprising: based on a first measurement of the set ofmeasurements, estimating the location of the mobile device based on atiming advance measurement; and based on a second measurement of the setof measurements, generating a measurement set for the location of themobile device. Further, the operations can include storing the locationof the mobile device as a historical data set.

According to an implementation, the operations include receiving a thirdmeasurement from a first device of a first network and receiving afourth measurement from a second device of a second network. A networkcommunication of the mobile device can be transferred from the firstdevice to the second device. The operations can also include determininga first distance between the first device and the mobile device based onthe third measurement and a second distance between the second deviceand the mobile device based on the fourth measurement. Determining thelocation can comprise determining the location of the mobile devicebased on the first distance, the second distance, and an establisheddistance between the first device and the second device.

In accordance with an implementation, the operations include determiningthat a first value that represents a sum of the first distance and thesecond distance is greater than a second value that represents theestablished distance. Further, the operations can include identifying afirst intersection location based on a first radius of the firstdistance and a second intersection location based on a second radius ofthe second distance. The operations also include evaluating a first setof signal strength measurements for the first device and a second set ofsignal strength measurements for the second device and selecting a firstsubset of the first set of signal strength measurements and a secondsubset of the second set of signal strength measurements. Further, basedon selecting the first subset and the second subset, the operations caninclude selecting the location of the mobile device from a group oflocations comprising the first intersection location and the secondintersection location.

According to some implementations, the operations can includedetermining that a first value that represents a sum of the firstdistance and the second distance is less than a second value thatrepresents the established distance. Further, determining the locationcan include determining the mobile device is on a connection pointbetween the first device and the second device at a third distance awayfrom the first device.

In accordance with some implementations, the operations can includedetermining that a first value that represents a sum of the firstdistance and the second distance is substantially equal to a secondvalue that represents the established distance. Further, determining thelocation can include determining the mobile device is on a connectionpoint between the first device and the second device

FIG. 13 illustrates, for example, disk storage 1314. Disk storage 1314includes, but is not limited to, devices such as a magnetic disk drive,floppy disk drive, tape drive, external or internal removable storagedrives, superdisk drive, flash memory card, or memory stick. Inaddition, disk storage 1314 can include storage media separately or incombination with other storage media including, but not limited to, anoptical disk drive such as a compact disk read only memory device,compact disk recordable drive, compact disk rewritable drive or adigital versatile disk read only memory drive. To facilitate connectionof the disk storage 1314 to system bus 1308, a removable ornon-removable interface is typically used, such as interface component1316.

It is to be noted that FIG. 13 describes software that acts as anintermediary between users and computer resources described in suitableoperating environment. Such software includes an operating system 1318.Operating system 1318, which can be stored on disk storage 1314, acts tocontrol and allocate resources of computer system 1302. Systemapplications 1320 can take advantage of the management of resources byoperating system 1318 through program modules 1322 and program data 1324stored either in system memory 1306 or on disk storage 1314. It is to beunderstood that the disclosed subject matter can be implemented withvarious operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

A user can enter commands or information, for example through interfacecomponent 1316, into computer system 1302 through input device(s) 1326.Input devices 1326 include, but are not limited to, a pointing devicesuch as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad, keyboard, microphone,joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TV tuner card, digitalcamera, digital video camera, web camera, and the like. These and otherinput devices connect to processing unit 1304 through system bus 1308through interface port(s) 1328. Interface port(s) 1328 include, forexample, a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, and a universalserial bus. Output device(s) 1330 use some of the same type of ports asinput device(s) 1326.

Thus, for example, a universal serial bus port can be used to provideinput to computer 1302 and to output information from computer 1302 toan output device 1330. Output adapter 1332 is provided to illustratethat there are some output devices 1330, such as monitors, speakers, andprinters, among other output devices 1330, which use special adapters.Output adapters 1332 include, by way of illustration and not limitation,video and sound cards that provide means of connection between outputdevice 1330 and system bus 1308. It is also noted that other devicesand/or systems of devices provide both input and output capabilitiessuch as remote computer(s) 1334.

Computer 1302 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)1334. Remote computer(s) 1334 can be a personal computer, a server, arouter, a network computer, a workstation, a microprocessor basedappliance, a peer device, or other common network node and the like, andtypically includes many or all of the elements described relative tocomputer 1302.

For purposes of brevity, only one memory storage device 1336 isillustrated with remote computer(s) 1334. Remote computer(s) 1334 islogically connected to computer 1302 through a network interface 1338and then physically connected through communication connection 1340.Network interface 1338 encompasses wire and/or wireless communicationnetworks such as local area networks and wide area networks. Local areanetwork technologies include fiber distributed data interface, copperdistributed data interface, Ethernet, token ring and the like. Wide areanetwork technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-pointlinks, circuit switching networks, such as integrated services digitalnetworks and variations thereon, packet switching networks, and digitalsubscriber lines.

Communication connection(s) 1340 refer(s) to hardware/software employedto connect network interface 1338 to system bus 1308. Whilecommunication connection 1340 is shown for illustrative clarity insidecomputer 1302, it can also be external to computer 1302. Thehardware/software for connection to network interface 1338 can include,for example, internal and external technologies such as modems,including regular telephone grade modems, cable modems and DSL modems,ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards.

It is to be noted that aspects described in the subject specificationcan be exploited in substantially any communication technology. Forexample, 4G technologies, Wi-Fi, worldwide interoperability formicrowave access, Enhanced gateway general packet radio service, thirdgeneration partnership project long term evolution, third generationpartnership project 2 ultra mobile broadband, third generationpartnership project universal mobile telecommunication system, highspeed packet access, high-speed downlink packet access, high-speeduplink packet access, global system for mobile communication edge radioaccess network, universal mobile telecommunication system terrestrialradio access network, long term evolution advanced. Additionally,substantially all aspects disclosed herein can be exploited in legacytelecommunication technologies; e.g., global system for mobilecommunication. In addition, mobile as well non-mobile networks (e.g.,Internet, data service network such as Internet protocol television) canexploit aspect or features described herein.

Various aspects or features described herein can be implemented as amethod, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programmingand/or engineering techniques. In addition, various aspects disclosed inthe subject specification can also be implemented through programmodules stored in a memory and executed by a processor, or othercombination of hardware and software, or hardware and firmware.

Other combinations of hardware and software or hardware and firmware canenable or implement aspects described herein, including the disclosedmethod(s). The term “article of manufacture” as used herein is intendedto encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readabledevice, carrier, or media. For example, computer readable media caninclude but are not limited to magnetic storage devices (e.g., harddisk, floppy disk, magnetic strips . . . ), optical discs (e.g., compactdisc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc . . . ), smart cards, andflash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive . . . ).

Computing devices typically include a variety of media, which caninclude computer-readable storage media or communications media, whichtwo terms are used herein differently from one another as follows.

Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and includes both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implementedin connection with any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structureddata, or unstructured data. Computer-readable storage media can include,but are not limited to, random access memory, read only memory,electrically erasable programmable read only memory, flash memory orother memory technology, compact disk read only memory, digitalversatile disk or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or other tangible and/or non-transitory media which can be used to storedesired information. Computer-readable storage media can be accessed byone or more local or remote computing devices, e.g., via accessrequests, queries or other data retrieval protocols, for a variety ofoperations with respect to the information stored by the medium.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructureddata in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrierwave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information deliveryor transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signals refersto a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changedin such a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By wayof example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media,such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless mediasuch as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

What has been described above includes examples of systems and methodsthat provide the one or more aspects. It is, of course, not possible todescribe every conceivable combination of components or methods forpurposes of describing the aspects, but one of ordinary skill in the artmay recognize that many further combinations and permutations of theclaimed subject matter are possible. Furthermore, to the extent that theterms “includes,” “has,” “possesses,” and the like are used in thedetailed description, claims, appendices and drawings such terms areintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as“comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in aclaim.

It is noted, for the avoidance of doubt, any embodiments describedherein in the context of “optimizing” one or more parameters and/orperformance are not so limited. Instead such terms should be consideredalso to cover any techniques that implement underlying aspects or partsof the below-described aspects to improve or increase various parametersand/or performance, even if resulting in a sub-optimal variant obtainedby relaxing aspects or parts of a given implementation or embodiment.Further, although various performance indicators, metrics, successmetrics, and/or objective metrics might be described as “key”, such termcan apply to different indicators and/or metrics as determined duringimplementation of the disclosed aspects. For example, what might beconsidered “key” in a first implementation might not be considered “key”in a second implementation or in other implementations.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “system,” and thelike are intended to refer to a computer-related entity or an entityrelated to an operational apparatus with one or more specificfunctionalities, wherein the entity can be either hardware, acombination of hardware and software, software, or software inexecution. As an example, a component may be, but is not limited tobeing, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, anexecutable, a thread of execution, computer-executable instructions, aprogram, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an applicationrunning on a server or network controller, and the server or networkcontroller can be a component. One or more components may reside withina process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized onone computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Also,these components can execute from various computer readable media havingvarious data structures stored thereon. The components may communicatevia local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signalhaving one or more data packets (e.g., data from one componentinteracting with another component in a local system, distributedsystem, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other systemsvia the signal). As another example, a component can be an apparatuswith specific functionality provided by mechanical parts operated byelectric or electronic circuitry, which is operated by a software, orfirmware application executed by a processor, wherein the processor canbe internal or external to the apparatus and executes at least a part ofthe software or firmware application. As yet another example, acomponent can be an apparatus that provides specific functionalitythrough electronic components without mechanical parts, the electroniccomponents can include a processor therein to execute software orfirmware that confers at least in part the functionality of theelectronic components. As further yet another example, interface(s) caninclude input/output components as well as associated processor,application, or application programming interface components.

The term “set”, “subset”, or the like as employed herein excludes theempty set (e.g., the set with no elements therein). Thus, a “set”,“subset”, or the like includes one or more elements or periods, forexample. As an illustration, a set of periods includes one or moreperiods; a set of transmissions includes one or more transmissions; aset of resources includes one or more resources; a set of messagesincludes one or more messages, and so forth.

In addition, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the naturalinclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or Xemploys both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any ofthe foregoing instances. Moreover, articles “a” and “an” as used in thesubject specification and annexed drawings should generally be construedto mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from contextto be directed to a singular form.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: determining, by a networkdevice comprising a processor, a time interval based on an amount oftime for a mobile device to move from a first location to a secondlocation; based on the time interval, modifying, by the network device,a size of a sliding measurement window of time; receiving, by thenetwork device, passive information from the mobile device while anactive data session is executing on the mobile device, wherein thepassive information is triggered by an application of the mobile deviceand comprises measurement data indicative of measurements associatedwith respective time stamps, wherein the sliding measurement window oftime is configured to comprise a group of the measurements that satisfya defined measurement count criterion, and wherein the measurementscomprise a timing advance measurement and a global positioning systemmeasurement; and determining, by the network device, location dataindicative of a location of the mobile device, wherein the determiningcomprises: based on determining that the timing advance measurement isassociated with a first time stamp that falls within the slidingmeasurement window of time, determining the location data based on thetiming advance measurement; and based on determining that the globalpositioning system measurement is associated with a second time stampthat falls within the sliding measurement window of time, determiningthe location data based on the global positioning system measurement. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement data is first measurementdata and the method further comprises: receiving second measurement datafrom a first device of a first network; receiving third measurement datafrom a second device of a second network, and wherein a networkcommunication of the mobile device is transferred, after the receivingthe second measurement data and before receiving the third measurementdata, from the first device to the second device; and determiningdistance data indicative of a first distance between the first deviceand the mobile device based on the second measurement data and a seconddistance between the second device and the mobile device based on thethird measurement data, and wherein the determining the location datacomprises determining the location of the mobile device based on thedistance data and a third distance between the first device and thesecond device.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining thelocation data further comprises: determining that a first value thatrepresents a sum of the first distance and the second distance equals asecond value that represents the third distance; and determining thatthe location of the mobile device is located on a line connecting afirst position of the first device and a second position of the seconddevice.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining the locationdata further comprises: determining that a first value that represents asum of the first distance and the second distance is less than a secondvalue that represents the third distance; and determining the locationof the mobile device is located on a line connecting a first position ofthe first device and a second position of the second device at a fourthdistance away from the first device.
 5. The method of claim 2, whereinthe determining the location further comprises: determining that a firstvalue that represents a sum of the first distance and the seconddistance is greater than a second value that represents the thirddistance; identifying a first intersection location based on a firstradius of the first distance and a second intersection location based ona second radius of the second distance; evaluating first signal strengthmeasurements for the first device and second signal strengthmeasurements for the second device; selecting a first group of the firstsignal strength measurements and a second group of the second signalstrength measurements; and based on the selecting, selecting thelocation of the mobile device from locations comprising the firstintersection location and the second intersection location.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising storing, by the network device,the location data as a historical data set in a data store.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the receiving comprises receiving user planedata from the mobile device.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thereceiving comprises receiving, from the mobile device, report datarepresenting a measurement report that is used to maintain networkcommunication with the mobile device.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinthe receiving comprises receiving report data comprising a globalpositioning system report from the active data session running on themobile device, wherein the global positioning system report comprisesthe global positioning system measurement.
 10. A network device,comprising: a processor; and a memory that stores executableinstructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitateperformance of operations, comprising: determining interval datarepresenting a time period based on an amount of time determined to havebeen taken by a mobile device to have moved from a first location to asecond location; based on the interval data, sliding a measurementwindow of time along a time axis; receiving passive information from themobile device while an active session is executing on the mobile device,wherein the passive information is triggered by an application of themobile device and comprises measurement data representing measurementsassociated with respective time stamps, wherein the sliding comprisessliding the measurement window of time to comprise some of themeasurements that satisfy a defined number criterion, and wherein themeasurements comprise a timing advance measurement and a globalpositioning system measurement that fall within the measurement windowof time; and based on the timing advance measurement and the globalpositioning system measurement, determining location data indicative ofa location of the mobile device.
 11. The network device of claim 10,wherein the measurement data is first measurement data and theoperations further comprise: receiving second measurement data from afirst device of a source network; determining a first distance betweenthe first device and the mobile device based on the second measurementdata; in response to determining that a network communication of themobile device has been transferred from the first device to a seconddevice of a target network, receiving third measurement data from thesecond device, wherein the second measurement data and the thirdmeasurement data represent respective reference signal received powerlevels; and determining a second distance between the second device andthe mobile device based on the third measurement data, wherein thedetermining the location data comprises determining the location databased on the first distance, the second distance, and a determineddistance between the first device and the second device.
 12. The networkdevice of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise: determiningthat a first value that represents a sum of the first distance and thesecond distance is greater than a second value that represents thedetermined distance; identifying a first intersection location based ona first radius of the first distance and a second intersection locationbased on a second radius of the second distance; and evaluating firstsignal strength measurements for the first device and second signalstrength measurements for the second device, and wherein the determiningthe location data comprises selecting the location of the mobile devicefrom locations comprising the first intersection location and the secondintersection location.
 13. The network device of claim 11, wherein theoperations further comprise: determining that a first value thatrepresents a sum of the first distance and the second distance is lessthan a second value that represents the determined distance, and whereinthe determining the location data comprises determining that the mobiledevice is located on a connection point between the first device and thesecond device at a third distance away from the second device.
 14. Thenetwork device of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:determining that a first value that represents a sum of the firstdistance and the second distance equals a second value that representsthe determined distance, and wherein the determining the location datacomprises determining that the location of the mobile device is locatedon a line that connects a first position of the first device and asecond position of the second device.
 15. The network device of claim10, wherein the operations further comprise storing the location data asa historical data set that is categorized by a parameter of the mobiledevice.
 16. A machine readable storage medium comprising executableinstructions that when executed by a processor of a network device,facilitate performance of operations, comprising: based on timing datarepresenting an amount of time taken by a mobile device to move from afirst location to a second location, configuring a length of a slidingmeasurement window of time; receiving passive information from a mobiledevice while an active session is executing on the mobile device,wherein the passive information is triggered by an application of themobile device and comprises measurement data indicative of measurementsassociated with respective time stamps, wherein the sliding measurementwindow of time is configured to comprise a defined number of themeasurements, and wherein the measurements comprise a timing advancemeasurement and a global positioning system measurement that are withinthe measurement window of time; and based on the timing advancemeasurement and the global positioning system measurement, determining,location data representing a location of the mobile device.
 17. Themachine readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the measurementdata is first measurement data, wherein the operations further comprise:receiving second measurement data from a first device of a firstnetwork; receiving third measurement data from a second device of asecond network, wherein a network communication of the mobile device istransferred from the first device to the second device; and determiningdistance data indicative of a first distance between the first deviceand the mobile device based on the second measurement data and a seconddistance between the second device and the mobile device based on thethird measurement data, and wherein the determining the location datacomprises determining the location of the mobile device based on thedistance data and an established distance between the first device andthe second device.
 18. The machine readable storage medium of claim 17,wherein the operations further comprise: determining that a first valuethat represents a sum of the first distance and the second distance isgreater than a second value that represents the established distance;identifying a first intersection location based on a first radius of thefirst distance and a second intersection location based on a secondradius of the second distance; determining first signal strengthmeasurements for the first device and second signal strengthmeasurements for the second device; selecting a first group of the firstsignal strength measurements and a second group of the second set of thesecond signal strength measurements; and based on the selecting,selecting the location of the mobile device from locations comprisingthe first intersection location and the second intersection location.19. The machine readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein theoperations further comprise: determining that a first value thatrepresents a sum of the first distance and the second distance is lessthan a second value that represents the established distance, andwherein the determining the location data comprises determining that themobile device is located on a connection point between the first deviceand the second device at a third distance away from the first device.20. The machine readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein theoperations further comprise: determining that a first value thatrepresents a sum of the first distance and the second distance equals asecond value that represents the established distance, and wherein thedetermining the location data comprises determining that the mobiledevice is located on a connection point between the first device and thesecond device.